Bryant a surprising disapointment in early going

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was the last player out of the locker room in Seattle.

Considering how the Seahawks’ big defensive backs punished him in press coverage, it was no surprise Bryant moved slowly after the 27-7 shellacking the Cowboys suffered Sunday.

“That’s what good press corners do to you,” coach Jason Garrett said. “You have to keep fighting, keep battling.”

That the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Bryant, who Garrett likes to say has a physique that looks like it was “chiseled out of a mountain,” didn’t battle back enough was one of the most disappointing aspects of the humiliating loss.

A third-year pro, Bryant seemed destined for a breakout season after an outstanding training camp.

But through two games, he has only seven catches for 102 yards with no touchdowns. And he’s been even worse as a punt returner, recording only two yards on four attempts with one muff.

Bryant followed up a solid four-catch, 85-yard outing in the Week 1 win over the Giants with a putrid three-catch, 17-yard showing that included two drops and was his worst statistical performance since his rookie season.

“There were plays I should have made and I didn’t,” Bryant said Sunday. “You just got to move on from it.”

Garrett said several factors contributed to Bryant’s disappointing day in Seattle.

“(The Seahawks) have good cover corners,” Garrett said. “At different times, our protection wasn’t as good as it needed to be. Dez was open on a couple of situations where we weren’t able to get him the ball. He was open on a couple of situations where he didn’t finish the play by himself.

“Dez is like everybody else, you just got to keep playing through the tough parts of a game and of stretches of games…The defenses we go up against know who No. 88 is, and we certainly do too. We’re going to try and help him get going, and he’s a big part of that as well.”

In Sunday’s home opener against Tampa Bay, Bryant can expect more press coverage after he was pushed around by Seattle’s 6-4, 221-pound Brandon Browner and 6-3, 195-pound Richard Sherman. The Bucs’ Aqib Talib and Eric Wright are smaller, but they don’t shy away from challenging receivers.

“It’s hard,” Garrett said of facing press coverage. “It’s not like you have free access and you just get into your route and everything is comfortable.”

Still, Garrett pointed out some perspective is needed when assessing any skill-position player within the Cowboys’ multi-layered attack.

“We have a kind of offense that we can stand up here after every game – and trust me, the Seattle game isn’t a great example of this – but you can stand up here after the Giants game and say, ‘Where was this guy? Witten only caught two balls, Ogletree caught eight,’ ” Garrett said. “We believe we have to use all the different weapons at our disposal and attack different ways.”